Appledore Parking

Been out on the bike (from home) and noticed 3 vans using the Car Park at Appledore, North Devon for Overnighting. A great spot to wake up along side the river Torridge. Had a chat with a friendly and helpful parking attendant. He is Motorhome friendly!

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.

:thumb:Just had a "proper" look on google street map and it looks a really nice place to overnight.
The restriction of a maximum of two nights is good, in my opinion, as it hopefully will stop long term parking messing it up for others.
Anyway, we would want to be moving somewhere else after two days as we would need a change of pubs/restaurants by then.

It is now on our "to do" list :thumb:

Last edited: Mar 31, 2014

The man who has never made a mistake has never made anything.

Treat life like a dog does. If you can't eat it or play with it, p**s on it.

With on-board everything these days it isn't necessary to be on electric hook-up and have access to water every day.
In fact, for several days.

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I think she probably doesn't know the motorhome "community" as a whole, only those for whom she caters. There are motorhomers who prefer to use sites with facilities.

It would be interesting to know if her business has, in fact, been adversely affected as I would guess the car parks would be used more by people who tend to camp off-site or use temporary sites/meets rather than full facility sites.

I think she probably doesn't know the motorhome "community" as a whole, only those for whom she caters. There are motorhomers who prefer to use sites with facilities.

It would be interesting to know if her business has, in fact, been adversely affected as I would guess the car parks would be used more by people who tend to camp off-site or use temporary sites/meets rather than full facility sites.

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We tend to do a mixture of both. Most of our journeys have no definite plans, only an area to travel too. We tend to decide on the next location over a few glasses of something the night before we move. Even then, plans alter on a whim and how "welcoming" an area feels.

Yes, it would be interesting to know if it hurts her business. I don't suppose it will, as you say, different requirements in the MH fraternity.

The man who has never made a mistake has never made anything.

Treat life like a dog does. If you can't eat it or play with it, p**s on it.

I think it's a great idea and welcome the facility. I'm not sure if I would use it or not, but I'm pleased it is available.

Some people like to be on a luxury site with all the bells and whistles, some like to be on a more basic site and some like to wild it. Many will combination camp. Each type of motor-homing has it's own place and as long as no harm is done we should live and let be.

Without intending to, the campsite owner made the perfect case for why this should bring in additional trade to the area, which will have been the council's objective.

She is quite correct - the customers she gets will not want to stay in a car park. They will continue to stay on her site, so no loss of trade to her, but those that are fully self-contained & who wouldn't stay on her site anyway, now do have somewhere to stay & will spend money in the town.

It's also quite likely that those staying on the car park will spend more money in the town than those on her site. They probably don't spend any more in total in the area, because the others are paying site fees, but they will certainly benefit the town traders more.

That article was written 18 months ago. They have had one full season under the new arrangements, but there don't seem to have been any follow-up articles in the paper. So it can't have turned out too badly then.

I did speak to the council and they received nearly £2K in the first year. This can only increase and perhaps we'll start lobbying for a service point, but don't hold your breath! I am lucky living in such a beautiful area and now having reasonable charge overnighting in Appledore, Bideford, Westward Ho!. Torrington and Holsworthy, will hopefully mean it can be shared with others. Best to visit before or just after the main season.

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.

shall add this to my list of places to overnight..
one of my favourite places near to home at tankerton slopes near whitstable has recently put up many new signs banning motor homes from parking between the hours of 6.30pm and 8.30am, not sure if they're enforceable though as no yellow lines anywhere on the road, apologies for going off topic in the thread, but its a favourite place of mine to spend the night when I come home from being away but don't actually want to go home and face the daily grind again..

shall add this to my list of places to overnight..
one of my favourite places near to home at tankerton slopes near whitstable has recently put up many new signs banning motor homes from parking between the hours of 6.30pm and 8.30am, [HI]not sure if they're enforceable though[/HI] as no yellow lines anywhere on the road, apologies for going off topic in the thread, but its a favourite place of mine to spend the night when I come home from being away but don't actually want to go home and face the daily grind again..

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They are perfectly enforceable under the Kent County Council TRO made last year (Article 43). Although the order is made by the County Council it was made in consultation with Canterbury City Council.

As we all know, Canterbury City Council is one of the most motorhome friendly in the country (and I am aware that they are looking to add to parking provision for motorhomes in both Whitstable and Herne Bay). However, they also have the views of residents to consider so employ parking restrictions where necessary in order to strike a balance.

thanks for that info, 'tis a shame though that the restriction starts so early in the evening particularly for those that have spent the day there and would like to maybe finish off the day with a meal at a pub or fish and chips on the grass and watch the sun go down..

They are perfectly enforceable under the Kent County Council TRO made last year (Article 43). Although the order is made by the County Council it was made in consultation with Canterbury City Council.

As we all know, Canterbury City Council is one of the most motorhome friendly in the country (and I am aware that they are looking to add to parking provision for motorhomes in both Whitstable and Herne Bay). However, they also have the views of residents to consider so employ parking restrictions where necessary in order to strike a balance.

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not wishing to go off topic as this is about the appledore parking, and it's sad that the actions of a few have buggered it for others, but somehow it seems very unfair to single out only motorhomes when any other type of vehicle is not restricted from parking there at all..

would be interested to know what parking provision they're going to provide in whitstable and herne bay, and indeed for those with disabled blue badges, there seems to be less provision for these each year, and i do know because i live in the area and use those places very frequently as do friends of mine who are constantly moaning about it..
but guess thats for another thread..